How to run Instagram partnership ads (branded content ads) in 2026

TL;DR

• Partnership ads (formerly branded content ads) let you promote creator content as paid ads through Meta Ads Manager—so you can extend your reach well beyond organic audiences

• Creators need a professional account and must grant ad permissions via ad code or Creator Marketplace before you can get started

• You can target specific audiences, choose placements across feed, Reels, and Stories, and track performance with full ad reporting

• Eligible formats include feed posts, Reels, and Stories—all requiring the paid partnership label for disclosure

Creator content consistently outperforms brand-produced ads, yet most influencer campaigns still rely entirely on organic reach. That means the sponsored post you invested in only gets seen by a fraction of the creator's followers—and almost none of the high-intent audiences you could be targeting through paid media. Partnership ads close that gap by letting brands promote influencer content as paid ads through Meta Ads Manager, combining authentic creator storytelling with the targeting and measurement capabilities of a full ad campaign. The difference between brands that scale influencer ROI and those that don't often comes down to whether they're treating creator content as a one-time organic post or as fuel for ongoing paid amplification.

What are Instagram partnership ads?

With 68% of people saying they come to Instagram to interact with creators, it's easy to see why so many businesses partner with influencers to create branded content. It's a proven way to reach new audiences through voices they already trust.

 take that creator content and turn it into a paid ad you can target, optimize, and measure. Rather than relying entirely on an influencer's organic reach, brands can promote the same post to specific audiences through Meta Ads Manager—using all the targeting and reporting tools available for any other Instagram ad.

The post still appears with the creator's handle and the paid partnership label, so it maintains authenticity. But now you control who sees it, how much you spend, and what business outcomes you're optimizing toward.

Partnership ads vs. organic branded content

Organic branded content relies on the creator's existing audience. When an influencer posts about your brand, their followers see it—but that's where the reach stops unless the algorithm picks it up.

Partnership ads remove that ceiling. You're taking the same creator post and running it as a paid ad, which means you can:

• You can target audiences beyond the creator's followers

• You can reach people based on interests, behaviors, and demographics

• You can optimize toward specific objectives like traffic, conversions, or awareness

• You get access to full ad reporting in Meta Ads Manager

Both formats use the paid partnership label for disclosure. The difference is distribution: organic stays within the creator's audience, while partnership ads go wherever your targeting and budget take them.

Why the name changed from branded content ads

If you've searched for "branded content ads" and landed here, you're in the right place. Meta renamed this ad type to partnership ads to align with broader terminology across their creator and advertising tools.

The functionality is the same: brands promote creator content as paid ads. The name just reflects Meta's updated approach to creator partnerships, including integration with Creator Marketplace and streamlined permissions workflows.

Why brands should use partnership ads

The core value is reach—but it goes deeper than just more eyeballs.

When you run , you get everything that makes influencer content effective (authenticity, trust, creator storytelling) plus the control and measurement of paid media. Here's what that unlocks:

• Targeted distribution: Reach specific audiences based on demographics, interests, and behaviors—not just whoever follows the creator

• Scalable amplification: Extend the life of high-performing creator content with paid media beyond its organic window

• Full measurement: Track impressions, reach, clicks, conversions, and ROAS in Meta Ads Manager

• Objective-based optimization: Optimize toward awareness, traffic, engagement, leads, or sales—whatever matters for your campaign

Research consistently shows influencer content outperforms brand-created ads on engagement and trust metrics. Partnership ads let you take that advantage and apply it at scale, with the same precision you'd expect from any paid campaign.

Eligible formats for Instagram partnership ads

Partnership ads support multiple content formats, giving you flexibility in how you amplify creator content:

• Feed posts: Static images or carousels that appear in the main Instagram feed. These work well for detailed product features or lifestyle content.

• Reels: Short-form video content that can appear in the Reels tab, feed, and Explore. Reels often drive higher engagement and are prioritized by Instagram's algorithm.

• Stories: Vertical, full-screen content that appears between Stories. Stories ads support swipe-up links (or link stickers) for direct response campaigns.

All formats require the paid partnership label to be enabled on the original creator post. When selecting content to promote, consider which format aligns with your campaign objective—Reels for awareness and engagement, Stories for direct response, feed posts for detailed messaging.

Eligibility requirements for partnership ads

Not every account can run or appear in partnership ads. Here's what both brands and creators need to qualify.

Brand eligibility requirements

To run partnership ads, your brand needs:

• You'll need a Meta Business Suite account connected to your Instagram business account

• You'll need access to Meta Ads Manager with appropriate permissions

• You'll need an approved connection with the creator (either through direct approval or Creator Marketplace)

• You'll need to comply with Meta's advertising policies and community standards

Creator eligibility requirements

For creators to grant partnership ad permissions, they need:

• You'll need a professional account (business or creator account—personal accounts don't qualify)

• You'll need branded content tools enabled in your account settings

• You'll need to comply with Meta's partner monetization policies

• You'll need the paid partnership label added to any content being promoted

If a creator loses eligibility, common causes include switching back to a personal account, policy violations, or regional restrictions on branded content tools.

How to set up partnership ads as a brand

There are two main paths to running partnership ads: working with creators you already have relationships with, or discovering new partners through Creator Marketplace.

Approve creators for branded content tagging

Before creators can tag your brand and grant ad permissions, you need to approve them in your settings.

1. Open your Instagram Professional dashboard and navigate to Settings

2. Select Business Settings, then Branded Content

3. Toggle "Require Approvals" to on

4. Select "Approved Accounts" and add the creator's Instagram handle

Once approved, that creator can tag your brand in their posts and grant you permission to promote their content as partnership ads.

Find creators through Creator Marketplace

Creator Marketplace is Meta's built-in discovery tool for finding and connecting with creators. You can access it through Meta Business Suite.

From Creator Marketplace, you can:

• You can search for creators by audience demographics, content category, and engagement metrics

• You can review creator portfolios and past branded content

• You can send partnership requests directly through the platform

• You can manage permissions and ad codes in one place

This is particularly useful if you're scaling your influencer program and need to discover new partners beyond your existing network.

How creators grant partnership ad permissions

Creators control whether brands can promote their content as ads. There are several ways to grant these permissions.

Granting permissions on a new post

When creating a new post that features a brand partner:

1. Create your post as usual—add your photo or video, caption, and any effects

2. Before sharing, tap Advanced Settings

3. Tap "Add Paid Partnership Label" and search for the brand

4. Toggle on "Allow brand partner to boost"

5. Share your post

The brand will now see this post in their Meta Ads Manager under available partnership content.

Adding permissions to an existing post

If you've already published a post and need to add partnership ad permissions:

1. Navigate to the post and tap the three dots in the top right

2. Select Edit

3. Tap "Add Paid Partnership Label" and search for the brand

4. Under Branded Content Partner Permissions, toggle on "Allow brand partner to boost"

5. Save your changes

Note: Some older posts may have limitations on adding partnership labels retroactively.

Generating an ad code for brands

Creators can also generate an ad code that brands use to access their content for partnership ads. This is useful when working with brands you haven't formally connected with yet.

1. Go to your Professional dashboard and select Settings

2. Navigate to Creator, then Branded Content

3. Select "Generate Ad Code"

4. Share the code with your brand partner

The brand enters this code in Meta Ads Manager to access your content for promotion. Ad codes typically expire after a set period, so coordinate timing with your brand partner.

How to create your first partnership ad campaign

Once a creator has tagged your brand and granted promotion permissions, you can create your partnership ad in Meta Ads Manager.

1. Open Meta Ads Manager and click Create

2. Select your campaign objective (see below for options)

3. Configure your audience targeting at the Ad Set level

4. At the Placements step, select your preferred Instagram placements

5. At the Ad level, click "Use Existing Post"

6. Navigate to the Branded Content tab to see posts creators have given you permission to promote

7. Select the post you want to run as an ad

8. Review and publish your campaign

Your creator partner will receive a notification that the campaign has been created.

Selecting campaign objectives

Partnership ads support the following campaign objectives in Meta Ads Manager:

Choose the objective that aligns with your campaign goals—awareness for reach, traffic for website visits, or sales for conversions.

Choosing placements for partnership ads

You can run partnership ads across multiple Instagram placements:

• Feed: Appears in the main scrolling feed. Good for detailed content and carousels.

• Reels: Appears in the Reels tab and feed. Best for short-form video content with high engagement potential.

• Stories: Appears between organic Stories. Effective for time-sensitive offers and direct response with link stickers.

You can select specific placements or use Advantage+ placements to let Meta optimize delivery across formats. If your creator content was originally posted as a Reel, promoting it as a Reel ad typically performs best.

How to measure partnership ad performance

One of the biggest advantages of partnership ads over organic branded content is access to full ad reporting. Here's how to track performance.

Metrics available in Meta Ads Manager

In Meta Ads Manager, you can track:

• Reach and impressions: How many people saw your ad and how often

• Engagement: Likes, comments, shares, and saves on the promoted content

• Link clicks and CTR: Traffic driven to your website or landing page

• Conversions: Purchases, sign-ups, or other actions (requires Meta pixel or Conversions API)

• Cost metrics: CPM, CPC, cost per conversion, and ROAS

These metrics let you compare partnership ad performance against your other Instagram campaigns and calculate true ROI on your influencer investment.

Accessing organic metrics in Instagram Insights

Creators retain access to organic metrics for their posts through Instagram Insights in their Professional dashboard. This includes:

• Organic reach and impressions, which are tracked separately from paid metrics

• Profile visits and follows that were driven by the content

• Audience demographics for your organic viewers

Note that available metrics vary by account type and region. Brands can request organic performance data from creators to get a complete picture of how the content performed across both paid and organic distribution.

Best practices for partnership ad campaigns

To get the most from your partnership ads, keep these strategies in mind:

1. Choose creators whose audience overlaps with your target market. Partnership ads let you expand beyond a creator's followers, but starting with relevant audiences improves performance.

2. Prioritize content that already performs well organically. If a creator's post is getting strong engagement, that's a signal it will resonate as a paid ad too.

3. Test multiple creators and formats. Run partnership ads from different creators and across feed, Reels, and Stories to see what drives the best results for your objectives.

4. Align creator content with your campaign objective. A lifestyle photo works for awareness; a product demo or tutorial is better for conversions.

5. Coordinate timing with your creator. Make sure they've enabled ad permissions before your campaign launch date, and confirm ad codes haven't expired.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between branded content ads and partnership ads?

Partnership ads is the current name for what Meta previously called branded content ads—they are the same ad type. Meta updated the terminology to align with their broader creator partnership tools, but the functionality remains identical: brands promote creator content as paid ads through Meta Ads Manager.

Should I enable branded content on Instagram?

Yes, enabling branded content tools on your professional account allows you to use the paid partnership label and grant brands permission to promote your posts as partnership ads. Without these tools enabled, you can't participate in partnership ad campaigns.

Why am I no longer eligible for branded content on Instagram?

You may have lost eligibility if your account was switched from a professional account to personal, if you violated Meta's partner monetization policies, or if branded content tools are not available in your region. Check your account settings and review Meta's eligibility requirements to identify the issue.

What qualifies as branded content on Instagram?

Branded content is creator or publisher content that features or is influenced by a business partner in exchange for value, including monetary compensation, free products, or services. Any content created as part of a brand partnership requires the paid partnership label for disclosure.

What campaign objectives can I use for partnership ads?

Partnership ads support objectives including awareness, traffic, engagement, leads, app promotion, and sales within Meta Ads Manager. Choose the objective that aligns with your campaign goals—awareness for reach, traffic for website visits, or sales for conversions.

How do I give a brand permission to promote my post as a partnership ad?

You can grant permission by toggling on "Allow brand partner to boost" when adding the paid partnership label to your post. Alternatively, you can generate an ad code in your Professional dashboard settings and share it directly with the brand.

Can I run partnership ads with Instagram Reels and Stories?

Yes, partnership ads support multiple formats including feed posts, Reels, and Stories. The format depends on what the creator originally posted—a Reel can be promoted as a Reels ad, and Stories content can run as Stories ads.

How much do Instagram partnership ads cost?

Partnership ad costs vary based on your campaign objective, target audience, placement, and competition. You set your own budget in Meta Ads Manager just like other Instagram ads, with options for daily or lifetime budgets and bid strategies.

Do creators get paid when brands run partnership ads?

The partnership ad itself does not automatically pay the creator. Compensation is typically negotiated separately between the brand and creator as part of their influencer partnership agreement. The ad spend goes to Meta, not the creator.

How do I track ROI on partnership ad campaigns?

You can track ROI by monitoring conversion metrics in Meta Ads Manager, setting up the Meta pixel or Conversions API to attribute purchases, and comparing performance against your campaign objectives and spend. This gives you clear visibility into cost per acquisition and return on ad spend.